Ever wonder why you can't stop
eating those "M&M'' s, its not simply a matter of will power.
The chocolate inside M&M's is especially engineered to keep consumer
"grazing" the unconscious act of grabbing for your second ,
third or fifteenth handful. Thousands of hours of research have gone
into the candy to make sure it promotes "maximum consumption".

As many chocoholics probably
suspect , chocolate contains numerous mood altering chemicals.
In the1940's and 50's , Hershey extracted a stimulant called theobromine
from its cacao beans and sold it to Coca Cola, which used it to pep up
its soda.

The secretive Mars family,
whose members have rarely been photographed and fervently guard their
privacy, had a fortune estimated at more than 12 billion, making them
one of the richest families in the world all from the sale of frivolous
product like M&M's, Snickers, Starburst, Twix and Milky Way bars!

At Mars , product quality is
an obsession. Workers constantly taste each product to ensure it is
being properly made. Having to eat a Snickers each hour is one thing,
but Mars is also the world's largest pet food manufacturer.

Walking through a candy
factory and sampling goods fresh off the production line is not what you
might expect. Some candies need to age, like fine wine, to reach their
full potential. A 3 Musketeers , for example, has the consistency of a
chewy taffy when it is first produced. Similarly, a freshly made
Starburst is impossible to chew ,and a Skittle fresh from the production
line could break your teeth .

Milton Hershey made an
incredible fortune of more than 60 million at the turn of the century,
but he died penniless. Long before his death, he gave away everything he
owned to found a home for orphaned boys.

Milton Hershey was an affable
inventor who never stopped developing new products. In his later years,
however, his creations became eccentric even bizarre. For example,
Hershey worked on onion and beet flavored sherbets.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are
Hershey's biggest seller, but in the 1950's , the company tried a
chocolate marshmallow cup that showed real promise. Unfortunately the
product had to be discontinued .

Mars has an extensive
intelligence unit, using the most sophisticated technology to keep a
step ahead of its rivals. The company has even recruited the CIA to help
it keep abreast of world developments. In 1981, the spy agency produced
a special report on the Soviet chocolate market for Mars.

Hershey and Mars were once
partners. The breakup of their partnership left bitter feelings within
each company, which time has only deepened , leading to one of the
fiercest rivalries in business today